David Byrne
June 13,2004
Bonnaroo
Manchester, TN

Set 1: Road To Nowhere, The Great Intoxication, Finite = Alright, The Other Side Of This Life, I Zimbra, And She Was, Once In A Lifetime, Un Di Felice Eterea, Ausencia, Tiny Apocalypse, Psycho Killer, U.B. Jesus, Like Humans Do, Dialog Box, What A Day That Was, Blind, Desconocido Soy, Life During Wartime

Before it had even begun, it was clear the Bonnaroo 2013 Superjam had a lot to live up to. Not only had last year’s all-star jam session featured the return of reclusive R&B star D’Angelo, but Friday night boasted the first-ever hip hop Superjam, a sloppy but knockout concert starring Wu-Tang’s RZA and Solange. Even more imposing was Paul McCartney, who owned Bonnaroo just 24 hours earlier. The next day, his lengthy, hit-filled set was all anyone wanted to talk about.

But after Saturday’s insane Rock n’ Soul Dance Party, it’s fair to say the thunder has been stolen from the former Beatle. The core band of the night—led by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Hall & Oates’ John Oates—was a jam-tastic delight in itself, but the special guests were operating on another level entirely.

R. Kelly swung through to croon Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”—which was hypnotically divine—and the blues classic “Bring It On Home,” which he naturally left dirtier than he found it. After the R&B star’s absurdly cool two-fer, Billy Idol—looking exactly like the punk sneering at you from the cover of Rebel Yell—dropped in and ripped through T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It On).”

Although both singers were Bonnaroo headliners, these appearances were still shocking—keep in mind Kelly and Idol had wrapped full sets of their own just minutes before taking the intimate Superjam stage.

The visual dissonance was incredible to soak in, too. It’s hard to say whether seeing Kellz backed by Jim James and his lion’s mane hairdo or Billy Idol rocking out next to John Oates and his soul patch was weirder to watch. Let’s just say both were beautifully bizarre sights to behold.

Incredibly, neither of those once-in-a-lifetime collaborations were the evening’s finest moment. It was the Sly & the Family Stone portion of the night—”Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music,” “Family Affair,” “I Want to Take You Higher,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—led by bassist Larry Graham that rocketed the Superjam into the stratosphere. While some of the Superjam songs earlier in the set fudged the line between communal jam session joy and karaoke hokum (“Love Train” comes to mind), these versatile, funky tracks lent themselves to inventive workouts by the technically proficient band.

Plus, Alabama Shakes’ soul growler Brittany Howard—another surprise Superjam guest and arguable MVP—was perfectly suited to the Sly Stone tracks. Her vocal contributions were perfectly pitched and sincerely felt. Honestly, it would be a real shame if the Shakes didn’t add one or more of these songs into their touring setlist.

By the time it ended with a cataclysmic take on Sly & the Fam’s “I Want to Take You Higher”—which found Howard and Idol singing backup vocals—the crowd was as ecstatic as it was stunned. It’s not often you get to witness an all-star jam session this unlikely that leaves you so profoundly satisfied.

Taped, Transferred and Seeded and by: MSTaper*** A Team Dirty South Recording ***

This show was one of my highlights of the entire weekend. It lived up to it’s billing and then some. The band alone was amazing and the special guests made it a night to remember. I tried to match the guest vocalists to the songs best I could remember. Jim James and John Oates traded lead on several tracks. Brittany Howard from the Alabama Shakes remained on stage and provided backing vocals for several tracks and even Billy Idol hung around until the end. James, Oates and Carl Broemel from My Morning Jacket provided guitars and members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band made up the horn section.

There was a high energy level throughout the show and most everyone young and old knew every song played. The cool part was the crowd continuing to chant “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin” for a couple minutes while the band took a short break. They came back and finished the track then took a short encore break.

The show started about 12:20 a.m. and defines what Bonnaroo is all about.

+ = w/Ian Neville on guitar (songs are a guess — he’s not very audible and may have performed on less than I’ve indicated)& = guy runs onstage about 7:30 into song. The band members tell security not to beat him up, just put him out. Art says he might streak across the stage in a minute. Russell takes his pants off in sympathy* = w/Warren Haynes on guitar

Taper notes:Continuing my NOLA Jazzfest Appreciation series, I present BARN51, a killer set from a legendary New Orleans act, but taking place outside of New Orleans. The Funky Meters performed a killer late night set at Bonnaroo in 2003 — possibly the last truly killer Funky Meters set I’ve seen (i.e. before Ian became the sole guitarist).

Wow…..just wow. So much energy — and so many people in the tent for this late night show. It was scheduled for, I believe a 1AM start, but here we were, well after a LONG hot day, waiting on the band to start more than an hour after their scheduled time. Yes, there were other acts playing then which I could have been at, but I stuck it out to see these guys. The word was circulating in the crowd that Art’s plane was delayed so they were just waiting on him to show. Well, finally he did, and the crowd was so amped up, the place exploded when they came onstage, ripping into their most popular tunes right out of the gate! But the band really found its footing with Fire On The Bayou. You can really hear the magic start to happen there, and the crowd is feeling it, giving the love back singing along, and a wonderful feedback loop starts between the band and crowd. The rest of the set is just top notch. And what to say about Warren? He just makes every band better. :-)

To my surprise, for a huge show inside of a tent, this recording stands up very well. It’s much crisper and clearer than I would have expected, so it’s a sonic treat as well.

SET
01- Intro 00:42
02- One Foot 03:54
03- Walking the Dog 04:22
04- Why Am I the One? 04:13
05- Light a Roman Candle with Me 04:17
06- All Alone 03:16
07- It Gets Better 04:33
08- I’m Not as Sad (As I Used To Be) 05:21
09- Carry On 07:44
10- Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard * 02:04
11- The Gambler 05:11
12- All the Pretty Girls 03:32
13- Barlights 07:42
14- We Are Young 05:28
15- Some Nights 06:34
16- You Can’t Always Get What You Want # 04:47

GRAND TOTAL- 73:40

* Originally performed by Paul Simon# Originally performed by The Rolling Stones

Taper: travelinbeatSource: CA-14’s @ NOS > CA ST9100 > R-09HR @ 24/96

MISC NOTES: I saw this band just on a whim and boy am I ever glad I did! They will remain one of the best highlights from my Bonnaroo 2012 experience– they just absolutely KILLED the crowd with what was hands-down one of the most captivating performances of the year! There were several other great shows going on at other stages and this just happened to be the one that I picked based on my sister’s recommendation and it was AWESOME! It really was the perfect way to close out Centeroo, and there was only one show anywhere in Bonnaroo after this one– Phish’s four-hour finale out on the What Stage (which I also taped). A huge thanks to all of the people who baby-sat my second rig which spent the day camped out at What Stage– Brian, Will, Nate, and of course my lovely girlfriend, Daphne– they were kind enough to hang out and mind my second rig to tape Gary Clark Jr, The Beach Boys, Bon Iver, and Phish while I took this, my smaller rig, and ran off to tape Kenny Rogers and Fun. elsewhere in Centeroo. This really was a wonderful set to start winding down what was an INCREDIBLE year down on the farm in Manchester!!!

I watched this set and was very impressed with Mumford and Sons. They’re one of those bands you have to see live to appreciate. I’m so glad willsfc taped this one, especially after seeing the “Amazing Grace” encore. I hear there were 19 musicians on stage. I was excited about seeing Apache Relay up there because they just played our town about two weeks ago.

The Police
June 16, 2007
Bonnaroo Music Festival
Manchester, TN

Disc 1
01 Message In A Bottle
02 Synchronicity II
03 Walking On The Moon
04 Driven To Tears
05 Voices Inside My Head ->
06 When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around
07 Truth Hits Everybody
08 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
09 Wrapped Around Your Finger
10 The Bed’s Too Big Without You

Disc 2
01 De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
02 Walking in Your Footsteps
03 Can’t Stand Losing You
04 Roxanne
05 Crowd/Encore Break
06 King Of Pain
07 So Lonely
08 Every Breath You Take
09 Next To You

14.Black Math
15.Rag & Bone
16.Blue Orchid>Party Of Special Things To Do
17.I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself
18.We’re Going To Be Friends
19.I’m a Martyr for My Love for You
20.Seven Nation Army